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Chapter 7
Seventh Bone: "Crazy Dog--Wild and Crazy" is the seventh chapter of [[Manga|the manga B. Ichi]]. It was collected as part of Volume 2. Featured Appearances Plot Meeting Room, Fear Factory, IC Prefecture One of the Fear Factory lackeys enters the Meeting Room with tea--only surprised to find their guest, Lin-Kinpar, has escaped. Fear Robot Facility, Fear Factory discovers the Fear Robot|left]] Lin is exploring the facility and discovers the room housing the Fear Robot. The room is behind towering doors, locked by a computer keypad. Lin approaches the keypad and already knows its password: "Black and white, green tea, azuki, coffee, citrus, cherry." Upon entering the password, steam hisses from an opening. The doors open. Lin is shocked at the appearance of the Fear Robot. She anticipates Fear Factory will use this robot to spread fear among both Dokeshi and humans in order to seize power of IC Prefecture. As an Observer, Lin realizes she must stop these plans--and that she still has to pick up apples for Apple Shinoda on her way home. What Lin fails to realize is that someone has snuck up behind her: Nofix asks what she is doing in this facility before slamming his hand around her neck, lifting her from the floor and slamming her body against a wall. Nofix seems to toy with Lin, asking whether she got lost on her way to the restroom. Nofix’s eyes widen, however. He sees Lin has shoved a knife through his left wrist. Lin manages to wrestle out from Nofix’s grip to land upright on the floor again. Nofix has a blank look on his face as he stares at the blood dripping from his wound. As his hand trembles, he smirks. He compliments Lin for letting him hear the sound of a knife stab through his own flesh, but now he is curious to hear what sound her flesh makes. With the knife still through his left hand, Nofix twirls his yoyo on his right hand. He explains his right hand is his Thirst for Blood, as he begins to seem to sing: “I am the King of Spin’s thirst for blood, transmitted through this string.” “Spin-spin-spin,” he repeats, before continuing: “Seeking out my prey...I am a blood-thirsty crazy dog.” As he continues to sing, his yoyo moves faster, kicking up a dust cloud on the floor. Lin does not wait for Nofix to attack: in her hands appear numerous forks, which she tosses at Nofix to perform Fork Dance, Right. Nofix blocks his face with his left forearm--and even as the forks pierce through that forearm, he still smirks. “We still have to wait,” he says, perhaps to himself, before adding, “Don’t eat her yet.” Lin now tosses the forks in her left hand to perform Fork Dance, Left. Nofix again blocks with his left forearm, he still spins his yoyo, and he still says, “No yet.” He refers to the sound of the forks piercing his flesh as “fight music” as he cackles. Lin stares in fear before asking why Nofix has joined Fear Factory. Nofix grows more serious just for a moment before answering, with a sadistic grin, that he wants to occupy the seat of the Fear Robot because “I just want to kill,” which he thinks is “only human.” Lin attempts another maneuver, in hope it will stop Nofix: she attacks with Tray Dance, a tray appearing in her hand which she throws at him like a discus. Again Nofix blocks with his left forearm, again the tray pierces into that arm, but this time, the tray spins through his arm. But again, Nofix is not deterred, and in fact, the tray stops spinning. Nofix explains that, as the King of Spin, of course he could stop a tray from spinning. Demonstrating his abilities, Nofix causes the tray to spin the opposite direction and out of his forearm, down to the floor. Nofix then says to Lin, "You're dying to eat, right? ... Go ahead and eat!" Lin stares as Nofix commands his still spinning yoyo to increase its revolutions until it rolls towards her at a fatal speed. As she realizes she is about to die, Lin thinks of one person: "Emine-sama." kills Lin with Walk the Crazy Dog]] Nofix completes his Walk the Crazy Dog attack, the yoyo slicing along Lin's shoulder and chest, blood gushing. As Lin collapses on the floor, Nofix chuckles about the "nice fight music." He is interrupted by clapping from Rodigy, who emerges with Dr. Agei from the shadows. Rodigy confirms that Nofix's actions confirm that he is indeed allied with Fear Factory and can be trusted to pilot the Fear Robot. Nofix then confirms with Rodigy and Agei that his spin powers are needed to operate the Fear Robot, as they lack Yohei Nanami's master chip to power the machine. Rodigy adds that, under the foot of the Fear Robot, the entire IC Prefecture will be too afraid to resist: the humans will serve as slaves to build Fear Factory new weapons. Excited, Rodigy grows brighter as he laughs at the destruction his organization is about to unleash. Yohei's Workstation Elsewhere in IC Prefecture, Shotaro is climbing pipes while Tool watches Mana practicing her martial arts. After noticing how calm this setting feels, Tool then compliments Mana on her Batsu-sai. Mana is surprised Tool knows kata, which she explains allow her to control her power, flexibility, and pacing. As a demonstration, Mana gestures to her forehead, welcoming Tool to attempt to hit her. But when Tool throws his punch, Mana uses her fists to block both of his before bringing her fist within an inch of his face, stopping just in time to end the demonstration. Tool is impressed as Mana explains she was performing one of the Bassai movements, Yamazuki, in which she strikes the face and center of her opponent to counter their attempt to strike high. As Tool returns to his seat, he explains that, in the Fantastic Island garbage dump, he learned from reading whatever humans threw away, including karate books and "bodies of strange animals." Tool then notices how kindly Mana treats him, but he explains he already knows about the "civility" humans practice, so she can stop being polite to a "monster" like him. Mana grows silent in response to Tool's remark--before immediately asking to touch his bald kappa head. Twitching in annoyance, Tool asks why martial artists like her want to strike so closely. Meanwhile, as Yohei makes additional modifications to Mana's robot, he remembers his time working for the Dokeshi Hunt. Dokeshi Hunt Headquarters (The Past) Yohei disagrees with his supervisor's orders: how can he risk his entire unit to potential death in what is likely to be a failed attempt to capture the dangerous Dokeshi Nofix? The Dokeshi Hunt supervisor chastises Yohei for questioning orders, telling him to follow them. Yohei acquiesces. Later, after Yohei passes along these instructions to his unit, one of his colleagues, Nick, lashes out in anger, tossing a full garbage can, and refusing to follow orders that are simply suicidal. Nick reminds Yohei that, as commanding officer, he is not the one risking his life in a foolish mission. Nick is interrupted by another colleague who reassures him that Yohei understands the risk. As Yohei turns away, Nick is less confident, claiming Yohei has "too many screws loose." Later, the intervening colleague joins Yohei outside to discuss the mission. While Yohei stands, inflexible, his colleague lounges against a wall, reaffirming that their team trust Yohei's decision because he has not led them wrong yet. The colleague smiles then asks Yohei to reaffirm that the two of them are still "buddies." Nofix's Location (The Past) kills Yohei's Dokeshi Hunt colleagues]]But as Nofix wraps his fingers around this colleague's neck, choking the life out of him, the colleague curses Yohei: "It's all your fault!" Yohei can only remember this colleague, surrounded by their peers lying bloody or dead before Nofix's feet, all shouting at him: "It's all your fault!" Yohei's Workstation (The Present) The word on Yohei's mind is "buddies." As he thinks of that word, he looks back at Mana, who is patting some dust off Shotaro. Yohei's thoughts are interrupted by Tool, chastising him for "brooding about the past" and hence risking having "maggots ... brood in your head." Yohei looks back at his work, telling Tool that maggots already brood in his head. Tool mocks him, claiming that must be why he cannot understand why this "dumbass" returned to IC Prefecture. Furious, Yohei turns, grabbing Tool by the collar. Tool likewise grabs Yohei's. Yohei criticizes Tool for involving himself in other people's business, while he has tried to avoid doing so. Tool calls such a policy just a rule made by "assholes who can't adjust." While Shotaro begins singing how "chores and fights are great," Mana struggles to break up the fight. When Yohei tells Tool to return to his "trash heap" like the "piece of raw garbage" that he is, Mana stops: she remembers how children near her family's house would also call her raw garbage. Her depression finally distracts Yohei and Tool from their shermish. 's new robot for Mana, Get-kun|left]] Yohei tries to mollify Mana by informing her that he finished building her robot. Yohei is surprised how quickly her depression evaporates, before she explains that, "If I didn't back fast, I wouldn't get anywhere." As they look at Yohei's robot, Tool, Shotaro, and Mana are impressed, the last referring to the robot as "cute." Yohei explains that the robot is powered by trash: he tosses one of his cigarette butts into its tray, presses its bellybutton, and watches as the robot shouts with glee. Tool is impressed to see an eco-friendly robot powered by garbage. As Mana picks up the robot, Yohei adds that the robot's AI will follow her fighting instructions. But Yohei then notices the flyer Mana originally showed her, now on the street at his feet. Remembering that Fear Factory is sponsoring her tournament, Yohei demands Mana not enter the competition. What he does not tell her is that he knows Agei will be at this tournament and will recognize his distinctive design immediately. He suggests she enter the robot in a different competition in IC Prefecture, but she refuses, as the Fear Factory tournament is the biggest current robot competition. Tool tries to defend Mana, telling Yohei, "The shrimp says she wants to enter." Mana then becomes furious, screaming at Tool that she hates being 17 years old yet likely not growing any taller. Mana then calls Tool a "bowling-ball head," which infuriates Tool. Yohei then becomes irate that Tool is interfering, the cigarette in his mouth bursting into flames. While his friends bicker, Shotaro is surprised to see the robot is able to perform the Justice Blade. As Mana continues to yell at him, Yohei can only think of his Dokeshi Hunt colleagues blaming him with their dying breath. Yohei turns away from her, retrieves his toolkit, and says he is leaving, finally separating himself from Mana and Shotaro because he has "somewhere to go." As he leaves, Yohei pats Shotaro on the head. Mana asks Yohei to stay, but Tool simply says, "It was fun while it lasted" and Yohei is simply "stuck in the same old 'kata' called loneliness." Watching Yohei depart, Mana is still adamant that she will enter the robot competition. Elsewhere in IC Prefecture Still tracking Yohei's movements, Zuno informs Rodigy that their target is moving. Rodigy tells Zuno to eavesdrop on Yohei, as he refuses to let anything stop Fear Factory. Fear Robot Facility, Fear Factory Later, Dr. Agei uses a video call to speak with Nofix, to ask whether he has determined how to operate the Fear Robot. Nofix confirms he has, then excuses himself to "listen to some fight music of fear." With that, Nofix initiates the Fear Robot. Trivia *The Fear Factory hallway through which Lin walks to the Fear Robot facility includes the following signs: "Big Biceps," "Hot Air Balloons Without Dreams," "42," and a sign with the Fear Factory logo and name. Other fixtures have smiling faces, some with sharp teeth, hinting at how fearsome is Fear Factory under its alias of Happy Factory.B. Ichi Manga: Chapter 7, English eBook, Page 111 *Lin's password to the Fear Robot includes the word "azuki," Japanese for small red beans used for dessert paste.B. Ichi Manga: Volume 2, English eBook, Pages 112, 191 *Mana's kata refer to her martial art forms, a sequence of moves meant to be performed as precisely and perfectly as possible. Each martial art style has numerous kata focusing on different techniques or aspects of the style.B. Ichi Manga: Volume 2, English eBook, Pages 129, 191 *This chapter confirms that Mana is 17 years old. *The phrase "If you brood too much, maggots will brood in your head," is a play on words: in Japanese, the phrase is "ujiuji kangaeru" ("to mope") sounds like "uji ga waku" ("crawling with maggots").B. Ichi Manga: Volume 2, English eBook, Pages 135, 191 *Shotaro's remark, "Kaji to kenka wa eedo" ("Chores and fights are great") is another instance of wordplay, sounding like "Kaji to kenka wa Edo no hana da" ("Fires and fights are the flowers of Edo").B. Ichi Manga: Volume 2, English eBook, Pages 136, 191 *Signs in IC Prefecture read "Morning," "It's Either Die Like You're Alive or Be Killed," "Strukchurai," "Reform," "3rd Generation Nan Nan Nan Nan Nan Bug," "Robot Fight," and "Posting Space: Ice Cr--" (perhaps cutting off the phrase "Ice Cream"). "Strukchurai Reform" is intentionally misspelled to be pronounced the same but written with different characters.B. Ichi Manga: Volume 2, English eBook, Pages 142, 191 Connections to Ohkubo's Later Work *On the cover, Mana's cowboy hat closely resembles that later worn by Liz and Patty Thompson in Ohkubo's subsequent series Soul Eater. Mana's height, face, and body shape, along with the cowboy hat, also makes her closely resemble Patty Thompson. *The hallway through which Lin walks has a sign with the number 42. This number is significant in Soul Eater, in which the number 42, when pronounced in Japanese, is a pun on "Death," referring to the character of Death himself. *When Rodigy claims to Zuno that nothing will defeat Fear Factory, the Moon again resembles its distinctive form seen in previous installments of B. Ichi such as Chapter 1 and Chapter 4, and as it will appear in Soul Eater and Soul Eater NOT! References Category:Chapters Category:Shotaro/Appearance Category:Mana Hinoki/Appearance Category:Yohei Nanami/Appearance Category:Tool/Appearance Category:Rodigy/Appearance Category:Dr. Agei/Appearance Category:Zuno/Appearance Category:Nofix/Appearance Category:Lin-Kimper/Appearance